Investors are often guided by the idea of discovering 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without any revenue, let alone profit. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.' While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else investors will move on and the company will wither away.

Despite being in the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, many investors still adopt a more traditional strategy; buying shares in profitable companies like 4imprint Group (LON:FOUR). While profit isn't the sole metric that should be considered when investing, it's worth recognising businesses that can consistently produce it.

See our latest analysis for 4imprint Group

4imprint Group's Improving Profits

In the last three years 4imprint Group's earnings per share took off; so much so that it's a bit disingenuous to use these figures to try and deduce long term estimates. Thus, it makes sense to focus on more recent growth rates, instead. To the delight of shareholders, 4imprint Group's EPS soared from US$2.85 to US$3.77, over the last year. That's a impressive gain of 32%.

Top-line growth is a great indicator that growth is sustainable, and combined with a high earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margin, it's a great way for a company to maintain a competitive advantage in the market. While we note 4imprint Group achieved similar EBIT margins to last year, revenue grew by a solid 16% to US$1.3b. That's encouraging news for the company!

You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. For finer detail, click on the image.

You don't drive with your eyes on the rear-view mirror, so you might be more interested in this free report showing analyst forecasts for 4imprint Group's future profits.

Are 4imprint Group Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

It's a necessity that company leaders act in the best interest of shareholders and so insider investment always comes as a reassurance to the market. Shareholders will be pleased by the fact that insiders own 4imprint Group shares worth a considerable sum. As a matter of fact, their holding is valued at US$29m. That's a lot of money, and no small incentive to work hard. Even though that's only about 1.7% of the company, it's enough money to indicate alignment between the leaders of the business and ordinary shareholders.

It means a lot to see insiders invested in the business, but shareholders may be wondering if remuneration policies are in their best interest. Our quick analysis into CEO remuneration would seem to indicate they are. Our analysis has discovered that the median total compensation for the CEOs of companies like 4imprint Group with market caps between US$1.0b and US$3.2b is about US$2.3m.